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Ch. 3

As Peter stepped into the building, he became aware of all the stares directed at him. He slowed his pace just a bit, looking around at all the people staring or whispering. He could hear what they were saying, but it didn't make sense. How would they know about the gala he'd been to? Why were they asking each other if he was actually Tony Stark's son? That just seemed absurd! Sure, he knew the man, but that didn't mean he was related to them. Besides, just last week people still doubted his internship. Why would they suddenly be wondering if he was related to Mr. Stark?

"Peter!" Ned called, waving at him from where his head had been buried in his locker moment before. Peter, relieved to have a reason to hurry away from the entry way, scurried over to his best friend to see what was going on.

"Hey, man," Peter grinned, initiating the handshake he and Ned had had since middle school. "How was your weekend?" he asked once they'd finished.

"It was fine," Ned shrugged. He grabbed his books and dropped them into his backpack. "How was yours? Pretty interesting I'd imagine."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Peter asked, walking with Ned further down the hall to his locker. Ned rolled his eyes.

"You know, the whole gala," Ned said, nudging Peter. "Michelle's gonna be either really pissed or really happy you didn't invite her." Peter gave him a look.

"She had a family thing," Peter told him, stopping in front of his locker. "Did you tell the whole school about that? Everyone's talking about it."

"You don't know," Ned stated, rather than asked. He stared at Peter as if it was the most blasphemous thing he'd ever heard, confusing Peter all the more.

"What? Am I missing something? I feel like I am," Peter said, turning to face Ned better.

"Oh, you definitely are, Stark," a voice from behind him said. Peter spun on his heel to find Michelle standing behind him, phone held up to his face. He took it from her hand, ignoring the fact she'd called him Stark, and read the article she had pulled up. It didn't take long for him to finish skimming the article and hand the phone back to her.

"That's insane!" Peter exclaimed. Michelle shrugged and pocketed her phone.

"You do practically live with him," she reminded him. Peter rolled his eyes and grabbed his books from his locker. "I guess now the public knows."

"But there's nothing to know," Peter stressed. He slammed his locker harder than expected, denting it slightly and causing Ned to jump. Michelle didn't so much as blink at the noise. Peter groaned and fell against his locker, pressing his forehead to the cool metal.

"Is there a reason you're not happy about being called Mr. Stark's son?" Ned asked. Peter bit his lip, arguing with himself for a moment. He hadn't told Ned Mr. Stark planned on him taking over Stark Industries. As much as he loved his friend, he knew Ned told his mom and family absolutely everything. Since they were trying to keep that particular secret under wraps, telling Ned hadn't seemed like the wisest idea.

"It's nothing," Peter decided. He wasn't going to tell Ned without getting permission first. He'd waited this long to tell his friend, he might as well wait until the day they released the information to the news.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Ned asked, walking beside Peter to their first class. "Are you going to become famous? What happens to you know what when you become famous?"

"Relax, Ned," Michelle said, walking on Peter's other side. "I'm sure Pepper has it all figured out." At that, Peter suddenly remembered his conversation with Pepper in the car. She was going to meet with the Stark Industries PR agents. There was no way she didn't know about this, right? Maybe he should text her just in case.

"Speaking of Pepper, I'm gonna make sure she knows about this," Peter muttered, pulling out his phone. He tapped on Pepper's contact and sent her a quick text, telling her about the article Michelle had shown him before returning his phone to his pocket.

"Enjoy English, losers," Michelle said, throwing up a peace sign as Ned and Peter broke off to enter a classroom.

"Have fun in advanced studying," Peter retorted. Michelle glared at him before turning around and nearly colliding with another kid.

"Watch it!" she exclaimed, causing Peter to shake his head with a slight smile as he walked into the classroom. At least nothing with his friends had changed. Maybe Pepper could fix everything quickly and nothing at school would change either.